Improvement in brake beams and shoes



F. J. KIMBALL.

BRAKE BEAM AND SHOE.

Patented June 19, 1877.

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S E S S E N W W NITED STATES PATEN FFIGE.

FREDERICK J. KlMBALL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO EMPIRETRANSPORTATION COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRAKE BEAMS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 192,266, dated June 19,1877 application filed April 9,1877.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK J. KIMBALL, ofthe city and county of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Brake Beams and Shoesfor Railroad-Oars, of which the following is a specification The objectof my invention is to provide a substantial, durable, and economicalbrakebeam for railroad-cars, as well as an improved constructionand modeof connection of the brake-shoes thereto; to which ends my improvementsconsist in a brake-beam formed from a rolled-iron beam or bar, of thedescription hereinafter described, and a brake-shoe, having projectinglips or flanges, and a pin or bolt, by which it is connected directly toa metallic brake-beam without the interposition of a brake-block, all ashereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of abrake-shoe, and a transverse section of a brakebeam, em bodying myimprovements; Fig.2 a rear elevation, and Fig. 3 a horizontal section,of the same at the line a a; of Fig. 1. Figs. 4., 5, and 6 showdifferent sections of beams, each having a suitablyformed shoe attached.

1n the ordinary construction of railroad-car brakes the shoes or rubberswhich are applied to the wheels are secured to brake-blocks of wood ormetal, and these in turn to transverse beams of wood, which are hung tothe truckframes. The shoes and blocks have been made of different formsand materials, and devices of various descriptions have been proposedand made the subject of Letters Patent for effectin g their connectionwith each other and with the brake-beams. All of these, so far as myknowledge extends, have involved the employment of numerous parts, andare expensive in their-construction and maintenance.

Moreover, the wooden brake-beams heretofore employed are heavy,cumbersome, and perishable. My improvements are designed to reduce, asfares practicable, the weight, number, and cost of parts, whileproviding a substantial and efficient construction.

To carry out the objects of my invention 1 provide a brake-beam, A,formed of rolled through metal, the transverse area of which issufficient to sustain the strains brought upon it in the operation ofbraking, and which may be made of any suitable and convenientcrosssection, provided the beam be of such character as to have one ormore flanges or webs extending at a right angle from the body thereof,and in the direction of the strain to which the brake-beam is subjected.The rolled bariron herein shown, as applied to the required purpose, isof three kinds, viz., that known as T, as angle, and as channel bars, ineach of which descriptions of bars the necessary element or elements arefound.

Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, show a brake-beam of T-iron, Fig. 5 ofangle-iron, and Fig. 6 of channel-iron. It is obvious that the form ofthe beam may be varied at the discretion of the constructor, providedthat the requirement above named be observed, the requisite strength ofmetal maintained, and that the metal be so disposed as to provideconvenient facilities for the attachment of the shoes, as hereinafter tobe explained.

The shoe B is, by preference, formed oilcaststeel, or provided with asteeled rubbing-face, and its opposite face bears directly upon thebrake-beam A, upon which it is held by upper and lower flanges bbbetween which the brake-beam fits, one or both of which flanges beingprovided with a .lip, b fitting against the back of the beam. The shoeis maintained is position longitudinally upon the beam by a pin or bolt,0, passing through its flanges or lugs thereon, and also passing throughthe flange or flangesof the brakebeam.

The distance from the frictional surface of the shoe to the inner faceof the beam against which it abuts should be sufficient to provideproper clearance for the wheel flange, and the shoe is preferably coredout or recessed, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, for the purpose of reducingits Weight.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. Asanew article of manufacture, a rolledmetal brake-beam for railroad-cars,the said beam having a flange or flanges standing from the body thereofin the direction of the strain to which the beam is subjected,substantially beam, constructed as described, and a brakeas hereinspecified. shoe, attached directly thereto by upper and 2. A brake-shoehaving an inner bearing lower flanges, and a connecting-pin, passingface and upper and lower flanges, one or both through one or more of theflanges of the of which are provided with a projecting lip beam,substantially as set forth.

for direct attachment to the brake-beam, and a F. J. KIMBALL. which arealso perforated for the entrance'of Witnesses: a connecting-pin,substantially as set forth. J. SNOW'DEN BELL,

3. The combination of a rolled-metal brake- H. F. GORIN.

